Heart and Soul
Chapter Three: Hope
"I'm home!"
Yahiko's boyish voice rang through the solitude of the dojo, but all he received was silence.
Puzzled, he removed his sandals at the entrance and noticed that Kaoru's were gone.
"That's weird," he commented. "She doesn't usually go anywhere when it's dinner time."
At the thought of dinner, Yahiko's stomach responded with a rumbling growl. He patted it and continued his search for his sensei.
"Hey, busu!!!" He shouted, heading toward the kitchen. "Are you deaf or something? Why aren't you—"
An empty kitchen greeted his auburn eyes. To his confusion, there was no Kaoru setting the table with hot, steaming bowls of rice and grilled fish. She wasn't there placing teacups next to their chopsticks, or scolding him to be patient for dinner.
A shiver of panic ran through his mind, but he forced himself to ignore it. Remembering the absence of her sandals, he figured that she was outside in the courtyard. Yahiko left the kitchen and slid the shoji screen aside at the end of the hallway, expecting to find his sensei practicing swings with her shinai.
But instead, he only found the stoic bushes and trees that were drenched in the dying light of the sunset. Kaoru wasn't here, either.
His panic heightening to a new level, he rushed back into the house and went back into the kitchen. Perhaps there was something that he had missed, something he didn't notice...
His auburn eyes searched the room, and suddenly caught sight of a white, bulging envelope lying still on the surface of the table. He must have overlooked its presence during his alarmed state.
Snatching it off the table, Yahiko took it into his hands, and promptly ripped the top off.
He looked back into the contents of the envelope and found a thick wad of money tucked within it. His eyes nearly stuck out of his head at the sight of it.
'Where did all this money come from?!' He thought in his amazement. There was no way that she could have made that much money from giving lessons, and Yahiko was certain that the yen in the envelope wasn't from the pay that he made at the Akabeko.
'This doesn't feel right...' he ranted in his mind. Why would she leave, and if she did, how the hell did she get this much money? She didn't even leave him a letter to tell him where she had gone. It wasn't like Kaoru to pick up her things and go on short notice.
Disturbed and perplexed, Yahiko went to Kaoru's room and entered. He looked through her closet to find that a good deal of her kimonos was missing.
'...where did she go?' he asked himself, closing the screen to her room. He stood in the hallway in silence, feeling utterly alone. By the absence of her clothes, Yahiko assumed that she must've packed her things for a long trip. If that were true, a part of him wished that she had stayed with him to share one last meal with him, or at least say good-bye.
He shook his head, disgusted by how sentimental he was getting over someone as ugly and stupid as his sensei. He should be all right by himself with the money she left him. It wasn't as if he was still an infant that needed a parent to take care of him.
...but still...where could she have possibly gone, and what had happened that was significant enough for her to just leave without saying so much as a good-bye?
Yahiko growled, putting back on his sandals. He figured that he would have to go to Megumi's clinic to hopefully get some information and his dinner tonight.
Shutting the screen, he practically flew down the steps and sprinted in the direction of the lady doctor's clinic. The sky was taking on an orange hue as the light of day was slowly fading away. Hints of visible stars shone faintly as night approached.
Thoughts of his sensei ran through his mind, the wind rustling through his spiky black hair as he ran.
* * * *
"I...I don't feel so well..."
A wave of nausea swept over her numb body. Her eyelids felt heavy and her mind was completely exhausted as if she had slept for an eternity. She tried to prop herself up with her arms, but they laid limp at her sides, unable to move.
"...what's going on?" she asked herself, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You shouldn't try to move."
Her eyes opened to a crease upon hearing the familiar, a white haze blurring her vision.
"What happened?"
"You've been sleeping for a few hours now."
"Where am I?" she questioned the owner of the voice.
"Someplace safe," was the steady reply. "How are you feeling?"
For some reason, she found the voice to be quite soothing. "I'm...I'm kind of hungry."
A small chuckle. "I'll go get something for you to eat. Stay here."
She heard solid footsteps gradually fading away and a door softly closing. The haze was still there, but for some reason, she wasn't scared. Her mind was in a state of ignorant bliss.
Getting the feeling back into her limbs, Kaoru shifted her arms. Her palms grabbed a handful of soft material that she found to be quite comfortable. She snuggled against the material and pulled it around her, darkness enclosing her.
'It feels really nice,' she thought, wrapping herself deeper into the material.
The feel of cotton brushing gently against her skin...it had made her feel like she was back at her home, hiding under the blanket of her futon from the morning sunlight.
...home...
Her eyes snapped wide open, and she instantly sat up. The white haze slowly disappeared, revealing a spacious room. There was a large window, but there was no light; only the dim glow of a few lanterns had provided her with luminosity.
Kaoru found herself in a king-sized bed. White cotton sheets were thrown aside when she had roused herself from a state of unconsciousness.
"Where am I?" she asked frantically, immediately slipping off the bed. Her blue kimono was wrinkled and her hair was in a state of disarray, but those were the least of her worries.
Her feet touched the floor, and she realized that they were deprived of the sandals that she had worn this morning. Pushing that thought aside, Kaoru's first initiative was to find an escape. Her eyes caught sight of a door and she immediately rushed to it. Her hand caught hold of the doorknob and she wrenched it open.
Who was there on the other side threw her into a state of utter shock.
Wild hair as white as freshly fallen snow and mischievous dark turquoise eyes greeted her. His lean and muscular figure towered over her, his hands supporting a tray with a bowl of rice and soup on it. The customary tinted shades were absent from their usual place on the bridge of his nose, but the corner of the thin lips was drawn in a familiar smirk.
"Sleep well?"
Blue eyes widened and rosy lips opened and closed again, uttering no more than a baffled stutter.
Enishi kept himself from laughing at the bewilderment playing on the girl's face. But his smirk was still present, enraging Kaoru to the point that her confusion was forgotten.
His eyes smiling with a secret that he didn't want to share, he set down the tray on a nearby table. He could feel her stare on him as he moved. Enishi could only imagine the frantic state her mind must have been in.
And thinking about that just made him want to laugh more.
"Here," he spoke, indicating the soup. "It tastes almost as terrible as your cooking, but it was all that the chef of this ship had—"
He was interrupted by something hard crashing onto the side of his head. The assault sent a throbbing ache into his head, but he was more annoyed than injured.
Enishi cast a sideways glance to see a fuming Kamiya, a limp sandal in her right hand. He assumed she found it where he had placed it with the other one at the foot of her bed. It didn't take long for the realization to hit.
The girl had regained her memory.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked coolly.
Kamiya's small form bristled with anger. "You arrogant, sneaky, underhanded JERK!!!"
He leaned back on the edge of the table, curls of steam slowly rose from the soup he had brought her as she continued.
"—I was worried about you and you took advantage of me by knocking me unconscious!!!"
He did nothing as she drew nearer to him, poking her index finger onto his chest in the middle of her rant.
"You took me away from my home after I specifically told you that I COULDN'T go! I'm hungry, I have a terrible headache, I don't know where I am, and on top of that..."
The fire of her blue eyes burned into him, her finger jabbing him with added emphasis. "You have the NERVE to insult my cooking!!!"
With that, her hand fell from his chest, but her grip didn't loosen on her sandal. She still glared at him, however, he could see that her anger was slowly slipping from her as she took in deep breaths.
"Are you finished?"
She did nothing except throw him another contemptuous look. Grinning smugly, he left his place against the wall and gestured towards the soup once more.
"It will get cold if you keep complaining."
"I have every reason TO complain!" Kaoru exclaimed. "And the least you can do is tell me where I am!"
"You mean you haven't pieced it together yet, Kamiya?" Enishi chuckled. "How typical."
"No, I haven't 'pieced it together yet'. In case you've forgotten, I was unconscious." She shot back at him.
A laugh escaped his smirking lips. Enishi had found the situation all too humorous. Had it been any other woman in Kamiya's place, she would've been whimpering in fear of him. But here she was, offended by his remarks, when she should've been afraid of him.
"We're on a ship that is bound for Shanghai," he explained. "We should be there within a few more days."
Another moment of tense silence settled between them, but it was broken by Kamiya walking briskly towards the door. Seeing this, Enishi grabbed her wrist firmly.
"Where are you going?"
The determination in her eyes did not waver upon feeling the hand holding onto her wrist. "Home."
"I don't suppose you plan on swimming back to Tokyo, do you?"
"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "I'm going to find the captain and tell him to turn this ship around."
"He's not going to listen to you, Kamiya."
She tried to yank her arm out of his grasp, but he kept her from moving. "Then I'll make him listen!"
"And how do you plan on doing that? Hit him on the head with your sandals?"
"I'll just say that I was kidnapped," she replied.
"And I'll just say that you're lying," Enishi smirked devilishly, pulling her towards him. Kaoru felt her cheeks redden at the close proximity between their lips as he leaned his face over hers.
"Who do you think he would believe? A little tomboy from Tokyo, or me?"
Kaoru blushed upon feeling the warmth of his breath as she spoke, causing her captor to chuckle.
"You might as well face it. You're going to be on this ship until we arrive there."
She stared at him infuriatingly, but he could sense that she was slowly accepting the reality of the matter. Determined or not, there was no possible way that Kamiya could brave those waters and expect to make it back to Tokyo alive. Her will might be made of steel, but her body certainly wasn't.
But that didn't keep her from losing her temper.
"You're so...frustrating!" was all she could come up with, and she sat back on the bed, her head lowered in defeat. She knew he was right, but she would rather die than admit it.
Her long hair was falling out of the high ponytail that she had styled it in this morning. Some of the glossy strands were tangled, and he noted the creases that ran along the sides of her kimono. She buried her face with her hands, slightly rocking back and forth with the motion the ship as it rode the waves of the ocean. Even though he couldn't see her expression, he knew that, despite his intentions, she was upset.
She was probably worried about that brat that she took care of. With the money that he had left at the dojo, the former pickpocket shouldn't have any trouble with meals or other finances. Still, Enishi felt that if he had told her that, she wouldn't find solace in his words.
Perhaps...she was hoping, no praying, for HIM to rescue her.
He gritted his teeth as he forced himself to suppress the ever- growing hatred and jealousy of the rurouni. There was no way that he was going to let his brother-in-law take away his sense of peace again. He wouldn't allow it, not even if it meant for him to fight for her. Enishi already made the mistake of letting Battousai take her away from his island. Kamiya would stay with him in Shanghai, and that murderous bastard wasn't going to ruin his one chance of happiness.
...but looking at her...to see her so downhearted...Enishi couldn't help but regret the brash way that he had taken her from her home. In a sense, he DID kidnap her.
But when they reached the harbors of Shanghai, he would make it all up to her. Eventually, she would see what lengths he was willing to go to for her. He was certain of it.
The minutes passed by like hours with him just staring at her in her dejected state on the bed. Although he had planned on making the arrangements to Shanghai, Enishi didn't know what to do at a time like this. It was obvious she was in need of comforting, but he didn't know how he could make her feel better. If she was upset over leaving Tokyo, Enishi felt that he wasn't the person who could lift her spirits at the moment.
"You really should eat something," he suddenly spoke. Kaoru slowly lifted her face from her hands and observed him through weary eyes.
"It will be a while until we get to Shanghai. There isn't any sense in starving yourself, is there?"
Kaoru said nothing, and his smugness quickly turned to concern as her small body fell sideways onto the mattress. He was relieved when her hands moved to pull the blankets over her, and she curled into a ball underneath them.
"I need some time alone."
Still worried about her sudden change in character, Enishi couldn't deny the unusual solemnity in Kamiya's voice. Taking one more look at her, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving the girl to her thoughts.
* * * *
She heard the door close, and then silence resounded in her ears. Although she hated being alone, she felt that she had to sort out her thoughts by herself. Now, she had time to let the reality that she wasn't going back to Tokyo sink in. At least not now.
As much as she hated to admit, Enishi was right. Whatever she said to the captain, her captor would just twist the words around. He was good at fabricating lies because of that damned confidence that she had known him for.
Turning onto her back, she stared at the ceiling above her. The scent of the soup was tempting her out of bed, but Kaoru didn't have much of an appetite. She had far more important things going through her head than filling her empty stomach. Like what she was doing on this ship.
It had been so long since she had seen him, after all that had happened on the island. She remembered him being led away in handcuffs as she helplessly watched. Her guilt over the memory was still with her; there was something about Enishi that told her that he didn't deserve what Fate had dealt him. She knew all the horrible crimes he committed, and he was also the same one who had tortured the man she had loved, but her sympathy for the boy who had seen his only sister murdered was unwavering.
But what was all this? She was somewhat glad that Enishi had escaped the police, but what had driven him to Tokyo? If he had known Kenshin was gone, what reason would he have to go there?
"Why does he want me to go with him to Shanghai?" she asked out loud, her thoughts leaving no more room in her head to think.
The lulling motion of the waves rocked the ship along with her body. She felt her eyes slowly weighing down as the urge to sleep became overwhelming. Despite all of her unanswered questions, the need to rest was powerful.
Yawning, she pulled the sheets closer to her and shut her eyes. A warm, comfortable bed was lot more inviting than swimming through frigid waters to get to Tokyo. Tomorrow would bring a new day, and with it, an opportunity to get some answers out of Enishi.
* * * *
"Yahiko, calm down!"
"What do you mean, 'calm down'?!" the boy yelled at the lady doctor. "How the hell can I do that when she's missing?"
Megumi sighed exasperatedly as she did her best to keep up with Yahiko. The absence of Kaoru had prompted him to run all over Tokyo like a maniac. She had gone with him in fear that the boy would run into trouble. Like Kaoru, Yahiko was known to have a quick temper that rivaled that of his sensei's.
After much running through the streets, they had finally reached the docks. The boy ran back and forth, hoping to find Kaoru in the small crowds of merchants and sailors. Megumi watched as he painstakingly loomed through the people, disregarding those he had bumped into.
"Excuse me, Miss?" a masculine voice called to her, and Megumi turned around to see a merchant in his forties behind a stand that displayed small trinkets and ribbons of silk. "Would you like to buy something?"
"No, thank you," she answered curtly, examining the merchant. Megumi didn't spend that much time at the docks, but this man didn't look like he was from this place at all. By the worn state of his clothing, he gave the appearance of someone who traveled quite a bit.
'Perhaps he knows something about Kaoru.'
"Have you seen a girl with long black hair around here?"
Yahiko had finally given up and arrived at Megumi's side, hoping that this merchant had some information about his sensei.
"A girl with long black hair?" the merchant rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No, I can't say that I have."
The boy's disappointment was evident on his face. Megumi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it didn't bring him any assurance.
"...but," the man began, Yahiko's auburn eyes lifting from the ground to him, "I did see a young girl when I was at the entrance of the city this morning. She was wearing a blue kimono, and I think she had a pink ribbon in her hair."
"That's Kaoru!" Yahiko exclaimed happily. "Where was she going? Did she say anything?"
"Let him speak, Yahiko," Megumi tried to placate him.
"She looked rather worried about something," the merchant continued. "I asked her what was wrong, and she told me that she had just gotten word that a friend of hers had fallen ill."
"...did she say where she was going?" Yahiko asked, his relief diminishing with the news.
"She didn't say, but she told me not to worry about her when I said that she shouldn't be traveling alone. Such a brave girl, that one."
"Thank you, sir," Megumi said, dragging an unwilling Yahiko with her. They walked away from the docks, the young samurai looking behind him every chance he got.
"He doesn't know anything else," she tried to reason with him. "It would be pointless to ask him more questions."
"But aren't you worried?" Yahiko spat. "That old guy's right! Busu knows better than to travel alone!"
"She'll be fine, Yahiko. Despite what you think about her, Kaoru can take care of herself."
Unsatisfied with Megumi's logic, Yahiko clenched his fists angrily at his sides. "But don't you think that it's weird that she just left without even telling us a damn thing?!"
"You know how she is. Kaoru tends to act before she thinks. She was probably so worried about her friend to consider anything else."
"And who's this 'friend'? I never heard her say anything about them!"
"I haven't heard Kaoru mention anything either," Megumi said. "But you and me haven't known her all of our lives. It's possible that she has friends that we don't know about."
Yahiko cursed under his breath, kicking a stray rock that was in his path. Megumi had a lot of good points, but his fears were not put to rest. If he had known Kaoru was going to travel across the countryside, he would've gone with her. The thought of her walking by herself with just her bokken was discomforting.
"She wouldn't want us to worry about her. Besides, Kaoru will be back as soon as her friend gets better."
He said nothing and looked to the sky. The stars glowed softly back at him, the cool night air enveloping him as he walked. Megumi began to talk about an incident with a patient earlier today, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't if he had tried.
'She had better come back soon.'
* * * *
The smell of saltwater filled his senses as he sat, turquoise eyes following the lazy movements of the waves below him. The afternoon sun beamed down on him, but he was dead to its warmth. The ocean breeze failed to give him any peace. He couldn't think of anything else. All of his thoughts were of the girl in his care.
Enishi had stopped by earlier to drop off her breakfast. She was sleeping when he had come in, snoring slightly underneath the blankets that covered her. He spent a good hour or so sitting on her bed watching her as she dreamt. She had looked so tranquil and content, and seeing her like that was soothing. Only she could've made him feel that way, even if she was completely oblivious of that knowledge.
He heard footsteps approaching, and he gave a sidelong glance to the girl behind him. Hair tied back in a ponytail, she was wearing the same kimono that she had been sleeping in. Although her attire was wrinkled, she looked radiant.
He noticed the perverse looks of the sailors directed towards her. His eyes threatened them with consequences worse than death as he glared at them. Regardless, the girl was unaware of it all as she sat down beside him.
"It's pretty," she spoke, the clarity of her voice bringing his attention back to her.
"What is?"
"The water," Kamiya replied wistfully, her blue eyes mirroring the shifting waves. "I like how the sunlight reflects off the water. It's really pretty."
Intrigued, Enishi looked at the cerulean waters with her. Rays of light adorned each passing wave as the air was flecked with white foam. The sunlight shone off the waters, but it could never penetrate the endless depth of the ocean.
"Enishi?"
He turned towards her, expecting a string of questions to spill out from her lips.
"Why do you want me to come to Shanghai with you?"
"Didn't I tell you back in Tokyo?" he replied, adjusting his glasses to lessen the glare of the sun. "I want you to live with me."
"...but why?" the innocence of her voice was apparent. She hadn't caught on to him yet.
And he thought that Battousai was dense.
"I have to find something out," he answered in monotone. "And I need you in order to do that."
He wasn't lying. After so many years of anguish and suffering, he had almost forgotten what compassion had felt like. His sister was the only semblance of kindness that he knew, and after her death and his experience in Shanghai, he doubted that there was any good to humankind.
Kamiya changed that. She had treated him with the benevolence of her heart, and for that he would always be grateful. Whenever she looked at him like she was doing now, he had seen a gentleness too beautiful for words.
It had been so long since he had felt so strongly over someone. That was why he had to know. He knew she was the source of these unfamiliar emotions, but he had to find out why.
* * * *
Kaoru observed him silently. There was something about him that rekindled the concerns that she had for him four months ago.
His eyes had told her. In those turquoise depths, there was still an indescribable grief that filled them. Memories of a loving sister and the hatred of a former hitokiri were still with him, and Kaoru knew that. She had sensed his animosity for Kenshin when they were talking back at her dojo.
But the emotional scars...as indifferent as Enishi could be, they weren't healed. Kaoru didn't see him as a heartless murderer, but as a little boy whose happiness had been unjustly robbed from him due to a cruel twist of fate.
"Do you hate me?"
His question left her dumbstricken. "What?"
"For taking you away from Tokyo. Do you hate me for what I did?"
Kaoru shook her head. "No. I couldn't hate you."
A smirk. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. I mean, I'm not happy that you kidnapped me, but I'm not as angry at you as I was last night," she answered honestly. "But no, I couldn't hate you. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to."
The smirk had straightened into a thin line. "...why?"
"Because, I just couldn't. You might have done a lot things to hurt Kenshin, but I have no reason to hate you."
The dull roar of the waves as they crashed into one another was all that was heard. Enishi regarded the girl beside him with silent awe.
She couldn't hate him...the words filled him with a happiness that he couldn't describe.
Kaoru saw the hint of a smile on Enishi's lips while he stared at the ocean. The longing of going back to Tokyo instantly vanished when she had seen it.
There was still hope for him. Enishi didn't have to be spend his life drowning in loss and agony. If he let her, she could help him.
As she sat with him, the realization brought a smile on her own lips. Enishi had seen it, but said nothing. For now, he wanted to enjoy this moment with her before it had ended all too soon.
It would begin within a matter of a few days. When they arrived there, Shanghai would hold the answers for both of them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Nope, I'm not giving up on this fic to let you guys know. I'm very grateful for your feedback; it helped me continue this story. I did consider pulling it off the site, but luckily my writer's block cleared up. Sorry it took so long to update this. I should be able to update a lot quicker now that I'm done with most of my scholarships.
I have a lot in store for Enishi and Kaoru in Shanghai. Writing about them will be fun, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters. Thanks for being so patient with me!
Chapter Three: Hope
"I'm home!"
Yahiko's boyish voice rang through the solitude of the dojo, but all he received was silence.
Puzzled, he removed his sandals at the entrance and noticed that Kaoru's were gone.
"That's weird," he commented. "She doesn't usually go anywhere when it's dinner time."
At the thought of dinner, Yahiko's stomach responded with a rumbling growl. He patted it and continued his search for his sensei.
"Hey, busu!!!" He shouted, heading toward the kitchen. "Are you deaf or something? Why aren't you—"
An empty kitchen greeted his auburn eyes. To his confusion, there was no Kaoru setting the table with hot, steaming bowls of rice and grilled fish. She wasn't there placing teacups next to their chopsticks, or scolding him to be patient for dinner.
A shiver of panic ran through his mind, but he forced himself to ignore it. Remembering the absence of her sandals, he figured that she was outside in the courtyard. Yahiko left the kitchen and slid the shoji screen aside at the end of the hallway, expecting to find his sensei practicing swings with her shinai.
But instead, he only found the stoic bushes and trees that were drenched in the dying light of the sunset. Kaoru wasn't here, either.
His panic heightening to a new level, he rushed back into the house and went back into the kitchen. Perhaps there was something that he had missed, something he didn't notice...
His auburn eyes searched the room, and suddenly caught sight of a white, bulging envelope lying still on the surface of the table. He must have overlooked its presence during his alarmed state.
Snatching it off the table, Yahiko took it into his hands, and promptly ripped the top off.
He looked back into the contents of the envelope and found a thick wad of money tucked within it. His eyes nearly stuck out of his head at the sight of it.
'Where did all this money come from?!' He thought in his amazement. There was no way that she could have made that much money from giving lessons, and Yahiko was certain that the yen in the envelope wasn't from the pay that he made at the Akabeko.
'This doesn't feel right...' he ranted in his mind. Why would she leave, and if she did, how the hell did she get this much money? She didn't even leave him a letter to tell him where she had gone. It wasn't like Kaoru to pick up her things and go on short notice.
Disturbed and perplexed, Yahiko went to Kaoru's room and entered. He looked through her closet to find that a good deal of her kimonos was missing.
'...where did she go?' he asked himself, closing the screen to her room. He stood in the hallway in silence, feeling utterly alone. By the absence of her clothes, Yahiko assumed that she must've packed her things for a long trip. If that were true, a part of him wished that she had stayed with him to share one last meal with him, or at least say good-bye.
He shook his head, disgusted by how sentimental he was getting over someone as ugly and stupid as his sensei. He should be all right by himself with the money she left him. It wasn't as if he was still an infant that needed a parent to take care of him.
...but still...where could she have possibly gone, and what had happened that was significant enough for her to just leave without saying so much as a good-bye?
Yahiko growled, putting back on his sandals. He figured that he would have to go to Megumi's clinic to hopefully get some information and his dinner tonight.
Shutting the screen, he practically flew down the steps and sprinted in the direction of the lady doctor's clinic. The sky was taking on an orange hue as the light of day was slowly fading away. Hints of visible stars shone faintly as night approached.
Thoughts of his sensei ran through his mind, the wind rustling through his spiky black hair as he ran.
* * * *
"I...I don't feel so well..."
A wave of nausea swept over her numb body. Her eyelids felt heavy and her mind was completely exhausted as if she had slept for an eternity. She tried to prop herself up with her arms, but they laid limp at her sides, unable to move.
"...what's going on?" she asked herself, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You shouldn't try to move."
Her eyes opened to a crease upon hearing the familiar, a white haze blurring her vision.
"What happened?"
"You've been sleeping for a few hours now."
"Where am I?" she questioned the owner of the voice.
"Someplace safe," was the steady reply. "How are you feeling?"
For some reason, she found the voice to be quite soothing. "I'm...I'm kind of hungry."
A small chuckle. "I'll go get something for you to eat. Stay here."
She heard solid footsteps gradually fading away and a door softly closing. The haze was still there, but for some reason, she wasn't scared. Her mind was in a state of ignorant bliss.
Getting the feeling back into her limbs, Kaoru shifted her arms. Her palms grabbed a handful of soft material that she found to be quite comfortable. She snuggled against the material and pulled it around her, darkness enclosing her.
'It feels really nice,' she thought, wrapping herself deeper into the material.
The feel of cotton brushing gently against her skin...it had made her feel like she was back at her home, hiding under the blanket of her futon from the morning sunlight.
...home...
Her eyes snapped wide open, and she instantly sat up. The white haze slowly disappeared, revealing a spacious room. There was a large window, but there was no light; only the dim glow of a few lanterns had provided her with luminosity.
Kaoru found herself in a king-sized bed. White cotton sheets were thrown aside when she had roused herself from a state of unconsciousness.
"Where am I?" she asked frantically, immediately slipping off the bed. Her blue kimono was wrinkled and her hair was in a state of disarray, but those were the least of her worries.
Her feet touched the floor, and she realized that they were deprived of the sandals that she had worn this morning. Pushing that thought aside, Kaoru's first initiative was to find an escape. Her eyes caught sight of a door and she immediately rushed to it. Her hand caught hold of the doorknob and she wrenched it open.
Who was there on the other side threw her into a state of utter shock.
Wild hair as white as freshly fallen snow and mischievous dark turquoise eyes greeted her. His lean and muscular figure towered over her, his hands supporting a tray with a bowl of rice and soup on it. The customary tinted shades were absent from their usual place on the bridge of his nose, but the corner of the thin lips was drawn in a familiar smirk.
"Sleep well?"
Blue eyes widened and rosy lips opened and closed again, uttering no more than a baffled stutter.
Enishi kept himself from laughing at the bewilderment playing on the girl's face. But his smirk was still present, enraging Kaoru to the point that her confusion was forgotten.
His eyes smiling with a secret that he didn't want to share, he set down the tray on a nearby table. He could feel her stare on him as he moved. Enishi could only imagine the frantic state her mind must have been in.
And thinking about that just made him want to laugh more.
"Here," he spoke, indicating the soup. "It tastes almost as terrible as your cooking, but it was all that the chef of this ship had—"
He was interrupted by something hard crashing onto the side of his head. The assault sent a throbbing ache into his head, but he was more annoyed than injured.
Enishi cast a sideways glance to see a fuming Kamiya, a limp sandal in her right hand. He assumed she found it where he had placed it with the other one at the foot of her bed. It didn't take long for the realization to hit.
The girl had regained her memory.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked coolly.
Kamiya's small form bristled with anger. "You arrogant, sneaky, underhanded JERK!!!"
He leaned back on the edge of the table, curls of steam slowly rose from the soup he had brought her as she continued.
"—I was worried about you and you took advantage of me by knocking me unconscious!!!"
He did nothing as she drew nearer to him, poking her index finger onto his chest in the middle of her rant.
"You took me away from my home after I specifically told you that I COULDN'T go! I'm hungry, I have a terrible headache, I don't know where I am, and on top of that..."
The fire of her blue eyes burned into him, her finger jabbing him with added emphasis. "You have the NERVE to insult my cooking!!!"
With that, her hand fell from his chest, but her grip didn't loosen on her sandal. She still glared at him, however, he could see that her anger was slowly slipping from her as she took in deep breaths.
"Are you finished?"
She did nothing except throw him another contemptuous look. Grinning smugly, he left his place against the wall and gestured towards the soup once more.
"It will get cold if you keep complaining."
"I have every reason TO complain!" Kaoru exclaimed. "And the least you can do is tell me where I am!"
"You mean you haven't pieced it together yet, Kamiya?" Enishi chuckled. "How typical."
"No, I haven't 'pieced it together yet'. In case you've forgotten, I was unconscious." She shot back at him.
A laugh escaped his smirking lips. Enishi had found the situation all too humorous. Had it been any other woman in Kamiya's place, she would've been whimpering in fear of him. But here she was, offended by his remarks, when she should've been afraid of him.
"We're on a ship that is bound for Shanghai," he explained. "We should be there within a few more days."
Another moment of tense silence settled between them, but it was broken by Kamiya walking briskly towards the door. Seeing this, Enishi grabbed her wrist firmly.
"Where are you going?"
The determination in her eyes did not waver upon feeling the hand holding onto her wrist. "Home."
"I don't suppose you plan on swimming back to Tokyo, do you?"
"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "I'm going to find the captain and tell him to turn this ship around."
"He's not going to listen to you, Kamiya."
She tried to yank her arm out of his grasp, but he kept her from moving. "Then I'll make him listen!"
"And how do you plan on doing that? Hit him on the head with your sandals?"
"I'll just say that I was kidnapped," she replied.
"And I'll just say that you're lying," Enishi smirked devilishly, pulling her towards him. Kaoru felt her cheeks redden at the close proximity between their lips as he leaned his face over hers.
"Who do you think he would believe? A little tomboy from Tokyo, or me?"
Kaoru blushed upon feeling the warmth of his breath as she spoke, causing her captor to chuckle.
"You might as well face it. You're going to be on this ship until we arrive there."
She stared at him infuriatingly, but he could sense that she was slowly accepting the reality of the matter. Determined or not, there was no possible way that Kamiya could brave those waters and expect to make it back to Tokyo alive. Her will might be made of steel, but her body certainly wasn't.
But that didn't keep her from losing her temper.
"You're so...frustrating!" was all she could come up with, and she sat back on the bed, her head lowered in defeat. She knew he was right, but she would rather die than admit it.
Her long hair was falling out of the high ponytail that she had styled it in this morning. Some of the glossy strands were tangled, and he noted the creases that ran along the sides of her kimono. She buried her face with her hands, slightly rocking back and forth with the motion the ship as it rode the waves of the ocean. Even though he couldn't see her expression, he knew that, despite his intentions, she was upset.
She was probably worried about that brat that she took care of. With the money that he had left at the dojo, the former pickpocket shouldn't have any trouble with meals or other finances. Still, Enishi felt that if he had told her that, she wouldn't find solace in his words.
Perhaps...she was hoping, no praying, for HIM to rescue her.
He gritted his teeth as he forced himself to suppress the ever- growing hatred and jealousy of the rurouni. There was no way that he was going to let his brother-in-law take away his sense of peace again. He wouldn't allow it, not even if it meant for him to fight for her. Enishi already made the mistake of letting Battousai take her away from his island. Kamiya would stay with him in Shanghai, and that murderous bastard wasn't going to ruin his one chance of happiness.
...but looking at her...to see her so downhearted...Enishi couldn't help but regret the brash way that he had taken her from her home. In a sense, he DID kidnap her.
But when they reached the harbors of Shanghai, he would make it all up to her. Eventually, she would see what lengths he was willing to go to for her. He was certain of it.
The minutes passed by like hours with him just staring at her in her dejected state on the bed. Although he had planned on making the arrangements to Shanghai, Enishi didn't know what to do at a time like this. It was obvious she was in need of comforting, but he didn't know how he could make her feel better. If she was upset over leaving Tokyo, Enishi felt that he wasn't the person who could lift her spirits at the moment.
"You really should eat something," he suddenly spoke. Kaoru slowly lifted her face from her hands and observed him through weary eyes.
"It will be a while until we get to Shanghai. There isn't any sense in starving yourself, is there?"
Kaoru said nothing, and his smugness quickly turned to concern as her small body fell sideways onto the mattress. He was relieved when her hands moved to pull the blankets over her, and she curled into a ball underneath them.
"I need some time alone."
Still worried about her sudden change in character, Enishi couldn't deny the unusual solemnity in Kamiya's voice. Taking one more look at her, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving the girl to her thoughts.
* * * *
She heard the door close, and then silence resounded in her ears. Although she hated being alone, she felt that she had to sort out her thoughts by herself. Now, she had time to let the reality that she wasn't going back to Tokyo sink in. At least not now.
As much as she hated to admit, Enishi was right. Whatever she said to the captain, her captor would just twist the words around. He was good at fabricating lies because of that damned confidence that she had known him for.
Turning onto her back, she stared at the ceiling above her. The scent of the soup was tempting her out of bed, but Kaoru didn't have much of an appetite. She had far more important things going through her head than filling her empty stomach. Like what she was doing on this ship.
It had been so long since she had seen him, after all that had happened on the island. She remembered him being led away in handcuffs as she helplessly watched. Her guilt over the memory was still with her; there was something about Enishi that told her that he didn't deserve what Fate had dealt him. She knew all the horrible crimes he committed, and he was also the same one who had tortured the man she had loved, but her sympathy for the boy who had seen his only sister murdered was unwavering.
But what was all this? She was somewhat glad that Enishi had escaped the police, but what had driven him to Tokyo? If he had known Kenshin was gone, what reason would he have to go there?
"Why does he want me to go with him to Shanghai?" she asked out loud, her thoughts leaving no more room in her head to think.
The lulling motion of the waves rocked the ship along with her body. She felt her eyes slowly weighing down as the urge to sleep became overwhelming. Despite all of her unanswered questions, the need to rest was powerful.
Yawning, she pulled the sheets closer to her and shut her eyes. A warm, comfortable bed was lot more inviting than swimming through frigid waters to get to Tokyo. Tomorrow would bring a new day, and with it, an opportunity to get some answers out of Enishi.
* * * *
"Yahiko, calm down!"
"What do you mean, 'calm down'?!" the boy yelled at the lady doctor. "How the hell can I do that when she's missing?"
Megumi sighed exasperatedly as she did her best to keep up with Yahiko. The absence of Kaoru had prompted him to run all over Tokyo like a maniac. She had gone with him in fear that the boy would run into trouble. Like Kaoru, Yahiko was known to have a quick temper that rivaled that of his sensei's.
After much running through the streets, they had finally reached the docks. The boy ran back and forth, hoping to find Kaoru in the small crowds of merchants and sailors. Megumi watched as he painstakingly loomed through the people, disregarding those he had bumped into.
"Excuse me, Miss?" a masculine voice called to her, and Megumi turned around to see a merchant in his forties behind a stand that displayed small trinkets and ribbons of silk. "Would you like to buy something?"
"No, thank you," she answered curtly, examining the merchant. Megumi didn't spend that much time at the docks, but this man didn't look like he was from this place at all. By the worn state of his clothing, he gave the appearance of someone who traveled quite a bit.
'Perhaps he knows something about Kaoru.'
"Have you seen a girl with long black hair around here?"
Yahiko had finally given up and arrived at Megumi's side, hoping that this merchant had some information about his sensei.
"A girl with long black hair?" the merchant rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No, I can't say that I have."
The boy's disappointment was evident on his face. Megumi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it didn't bring him any assurance.
"...but," the man began, Yahiko's auburn eyes lifting from the ground to him, "I did see a young girl when I was at the entrance of the city this morning. She was wearing a blue kimono, and I think she had a pink ribbon in her hair."
"That's Kaoru!" Yahiko exclaimed happily. "Where was she going? Did she say anything?"
"Let him speak, Yahiko," Megumi tried to placate him.
"She looked rather worried about something," the merchant continued. "I asked her what was wrong, and she told me that she had just gotten word that a friend of hers had fallen ill."
"...did she say where she was going?" Yahiko asked, his relief diminishing with the news.
"She didn't say, but she told me not to worry about her when I said that she shouldn't be traveling alone. Such a brave girl, that one."
"Thank you, sir," Megumi said, dragging an unwilling Yahiko with her. They walked away from the docks, the young samurai looking behind him every chance he got.
"He doesn't know anything else," she tried to reason with him. "It would be pointless to ask him more questions."
"But aren't you worried?" Yahiko spat. "That old guy's right! Busu knows better than to travel alone!"
"She'll be fine, Yahiko. Despite what you think about her, Kaoru can take care of herself."
Unsatisfied with Megumi's logic, Yahiko clenched his fists angrily at his sides. "But don't you think that it's weird that she just left without even telling us a damn thing?!"
"You know how she is. Kaoru tends to act before she thinks. She was probably so worried about her friend to consider anything else."
"And who's this 'friend'? I never heard her say anything about them!"
"I haven't heard Kaoru mention anything either," Megumi said. "But you and me haven't known her all of our lives. It's possible that she has friends that we don't know about."
Yahiko cursed under his breath, kicking a stray rock that was in his path. Megumi had a lot of good points, but his fears were not put to rest. If he had known Kaoru was going to travel across the countryside, he would've gone with her. The thought of her walking by herself with just her bokken was discomforting.
"She wouldn't want us to worry about her. Besides, Kaoru will be back as soon as her friend gets better."
He said nothing and looked to the sky. The stars glowed softly back at him, the cool night air enveloping him as he walked. Megumi began to talk about an incident with a patient earlier today, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't if he had tried.
'She had better come back soon.'
* * * *
The smell of saltwater filled his senses as he sat, turquoise eyes following the lazy movements of the waves below him. The afternoon sun beamed down on him, but he was dead to its warmth. The ocean breeze failed to give him any peace. He couldn't think of anything else. All of his thoughts were of the girl in his care.
Enishi had stopped by earlier to drop off her breakfast. She was sleeping when he had come in, snoring slightly underneath the blankets that covered her. He spent a good hour or so sitting on her bed watching her as she dreamt. She had looked so tranquil and content, and seeing her like that was soothing. Only she could've made him feel that way, even if she was completely oblivious of that knowledge.
He heard footsteps approaching, and he gave a sidelong glance to the girl behind him. Hair tied back in a ponytail, she was wearing the same kimono that she had been sleeping in. Although her attire was wrinkled, she looked radiant.
He noticed the perverse looks of the sailors directed towards her. His eyes threatened them with consequences worse than death as he glared at them. Regardless, the girl was unaware of it all as she sat down beside him.
"It's pretty," she spoke, the clarity of her voice bringing his attention back to her.
"What is?"
"The water," Kamiya replied wistfully, her blue eyes mirroring the shifting waves. "I like how the sunlight reflects off the water. It's really pretty."
Intrigued, Enishi looked at the cerulean waters with her. Rays of light adorned each passing wave as the air was flecked with white foam. The sunlight shone off the waters, but it could never penetrate the endless depth of the ocean.
"Enishi?"
He turned towards her, expecting a string of questions to spill out from her lips.
"Why do you want me to come to Shanghai with you?"
"Didn't I tell you back in Tokyo?" he replied, adjusting his glasses to lessen the glare of the sun. "I want you to live with me."
"...but why?" the innocence of her voice was apparent. She hadn't caught on to him yet.
And he thought that Battousai was dense.
"I have to find something out," he answered in monotone. "And I need you in order to do that."
He wasn't lying. After so many years of anguish and suffering, he had almost forgotten what compassion had felt like. His sister was the only semblance of kindness that he knew, and after her death and his experience in Shanghai, he doubted that there was any good to humankind.
Kamiya changed that. She had treated him with the benevolence of her heart, and for that he would always be grateful. Whenever she looked at him like she was doing now, he had seen a gentleness too beautiful for words.
It had been so long since he had felt so strongly over someone. That was why he had to know. He knew she was the source of these unfamiliar emotions, but he had to find out why.
* * * *
Kaoru observed him silently. There was something about him that rekindled the concerns that she had for him four months ago.
His eyes had told her. In those turquoise depths, there was still an indescribable grief that filled them. Memories of a loving sister and the hatred of a former hitokiri were still with him, and Kaoru knew that. She had sensed his animosity for Kenshin when they were talking back at her dojo.
But the emotional scars...as indifferent as Enishi could be, they weren't healed. Kaoru didn't see him as a heartless murderer, but as a little boy whose happiness had been unjustly robbed from him due to a cruel twist of fate.
"Do you hate me?"
His question left her dumbstricken. "What?"
"For taking you away from Tokyo. Do you hate me for what I did?"
Kaoru shook her head. "No. I couldn't hate you."
A smirk. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. I mean, I'm not happy that you kidnapped me, but I'm not as angry at you as I was last night," she answered honestly. "But no, I couldn't hate you. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to."
The smirk had straightened into a thin line. "...why?"
"Because, I just couldn't. You might have done a lot things to hurt Kenshin, but I have no reason to hate you."
The dull roar of the waves as they crashed into one another was all that was heard. Enishi regarded the girl beside him with silent awe.
She couldn't hate him...the words filled him with a happiness that he couldn't describe.
Kaoru saw the hint of a smile on Enishi's lips while he stared at the ocean. The longing of going back to Tokyo instantly vanished when she had seen it.
There was still hope for him. Enishi didn't have to be spend his life drowning in loss and agony. If he let her, she could help him.
As she sat with him, the realization brought a smile on her own lips. Enishi had seen it, but said nothing. For now, he wanted to enjoy this moment with her before it had ended all too soon.
It would begin within a matter of a few days. When they arrived there, Shanghai would hold the answers for both of them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Nope, I'm not giving up on this fic to let you guys know. I'm very grateful for your feedback; it helped me continue this story. I did consider pulling it off the site, but luckily my writer's block cleared up. Sorry it took so long to update this. I should be able to update a lot quicker now that I'm done with most of my scholarships.
I have a lot in store for Enishi and Kaoru in Shanghai. Writing about them will be fun, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters. Thanks for being so patient with me!
